The current enthusiasm for child welfare, with all that it implies for prenatal care and for growth, development and maternal care, was reflected in the recent White House Conference on Child Health and Protection. The number of health items that arouse concern seems to be growing with the years. Child psychology has of late acquired an enormous impetus. In the domain of bodily health, preventive medicine is forging ahead rapidly. There are "well baby clinics" that vie with "sick baby clinics." Vaccination against smallpox and immunization against diphtheria are becoming routine measures in well managed communities. Dental hygiene has placed specialists at the call of the schools. To these features may be added a widespread concern about the proper development of the thyroid gland and the attempts to avert adolescent goiter. The extensive occurrence of such thyroid abnormality in this country has become familiar. Details have repeatedly been rehearsed in